Mentored Advanced Projects (MAP)

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In a Mentored Advanced Project (MAP), you’ll work closely with a faculty member on a research or creative project that integrates the knowledge and skills you’ve gained at Grinnell. Many MAPs result in papers, presentations, performances, and exhibits that share the results of the project regionally, nationally — even internationally. Nearly 40 percent of Grinnell students complete a MAP.

A MAP can be the capstone of your academic major or a concentration, or it can serve to integrate a separate sequence of study or inquiry not recognized as a formal program. The MAP may be independent or conducted with a research team. In many fields, MAPs are connected with a faculty member's scholarship and may contribute to ongoing faculty research.

MAPs are faculty-directed and approved, and are made available by specific programs and individual faculty members at their discretion. In other words, students should not expect to set the terms for a particular MAP. If you seek to cap your undergraduate career with a research paper, performance, portfolio, intellectual journal, or other creative or scholarly work, you’ll need to plan ahead. Discuss your MAP interests with your faculty adviser at the time you declare a major, and then watch for available MAP opportunities.